It has been the common practice in certain shipping and storage practices to utilize various containers generally manufactured of corrugated fiberboard which are attached to a pallet. The pallets are generally manufactured of wood which is mounted on skids so that forklifts can approach the pallet in various directions and quickly and easily move the pallet. Such assemblies generally required a carton and pallet, each separate units. This necessitated assembly of the container and mounting it on the pallet for use. A significant amount of storage area was taken up if the containers were stored for reuse. The containers sometimes were disassembled or destroyed, in which case only the wooden pallets were reused.
Collapsible containers for use with pallets have previously been designed. Generally, some of these containers had the side walls or end walls collapsible, while the entire bottom of the container has been either totally affixed to the pallet or completely removable therefrom.
Another type of palletized container has the container and pallet both being made from corrugated fiberboard or the like with the pallet formed from the same blank as the container. See, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,026,015 to Severn and U.S. Pat. No. 3,519,190 to Achermann et al. Both of these patents illustrate a container having a pallet integrally formed with the container and able to be knocked down or folded for storage.
A disadvantage of containers which have a pallet as a part thereof is that they require a significant amount of assembly time and frequently more than one person to assemble. This severely lessens their desirability for use. Furthermore, the palletized containers having an integrally formed pallet can generally be approached with a forklift from only certain directions which is undesirable at times.
Another container which makes use of a standard pallet is illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 4,085,846 to Williams. Although a standard pallet is used, the container is floorless and relies on a floor formed separately and attached to the pallet. This can result in a weakened container. The bottom floor generally adds structural support to the containers by keeping the side walls or end walls of the container from bulging outward and separating from the floor. This design does not provide for this support and the side walls can separate from the floor.
Another design which uses a standard pallet is illustrated in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,743,166 and 3,949,874, both issued to Heavner. In these patents, the container is hingedly connected along one edge to an edge of a pallet. The container pivots around this edge either to a usable or storage position. A problem with the design shown in the '166 patent is that the surface area taken up by the container in the stored position is more than when in the opened position. This is due to the container pivoting away from the top of the pallet and thus takes almost twice the opened amount of surface area for storage. Thus, although the container is collapsed and takes less than the height which the assembled container takes, the storage configuration may still be unacceptable. Also, this design requires substantial time, effort and manpower to assemble the carton due to the numerous folds which must be made to assemble the completed carton.
Lastly, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,373,637, owned by the same assignee as the present invention, there is shown a collapsible container and pallet assembly which overcomes many of the disadvantages of the aforementioned container pallet assemblies. Most importantly, due to the configuration of the score lines, bottom flaps and floor panel, the container can be collapsed to a flattened storage configuration above the pallet. This is accomplished by basically providing the floor of the container with two parallel score lines, dividing the floor into a center position which is fixed to the pallet and two outer portions which are about the center portion as the container is opened and collapsed. Such a system works very well for most situations. The assembly cost to the user is kept to a minimum and the container is secure to the pallet. Further, the container-pallet assembly stores and stacks well within given container height limits. However, it was recognized that the utility of this design would be significantly enhanced if it permitted a container of greater height (or depth), and maintained the collapsed container within the confines of the pallet. Further, it was recognized that the stacking capabilities of the subject assembly might be enhanced if there were more of the container floor portion supporting the side panel in face-to-face contact.